Double Or Nothing and Sir Tiger look to be undone by their barrier draws on Tuesday
Barrier draws will make it tough for both Double Or Nothing and Sir Tiger to win at Albion Park on Tuesday, trainer Al Barnes thinking they’ll both need top drives or a lot of luck, or both, to even earn place money.
Barnes entered Double Or Nothing for a rating 65 to 75 race, figuring that in a higher grade with a preferential barrier draw he would land the pole.
And from there, given the way he raced last time, the horse could have “given them a shake.”
But instead of using the national rating system, the handicappers ranked the field on money won in the last four starts, which sees Double Or Nothing in gate four.
And with a lot of speed inside him, Barnes says he can’t see Double Or Nothing being able to cross to the pegs.
“And he doesn’t try as hard from behind. Brendan said he was bolting (in the trail) last time and thought he was going to win for fun but he rushed up to the girth of the leader and that’s as far as he wanted to go.
“I specifically put him in this race to get a good draw, rather than starting him in an up-to-65 race and drawing the outside of the second row.
“But if he burns out from four it could be for nothing. The two horse (Machin Out) wouldn’t hand up and he probably wouldn’t cross the one (Recipe For Dreaming) either.
“I don’t know where he’ll end up in the running now. It’s a hard race to assess with so much speed. It looks like he might have to come with one run again and that makes him a place chance at best.”
Barnes holds out even less hope for Sir Tiger from the outside of the gate in the following race.
The race is for rating 50 to 55 horses, much weaker than the opposition he faced last time in the Rising Stars Championship Final, when he came from four deep for fifth, finding the 1:52.1 mile rate beyond him.
But Sir Tiger is not a horse who can be used up early and still find the line, so driver Hayden Barnes will be virtually forced to go back from the arm.
Since deciding to drive Sir Tiger more conservatively, he has run some respectable races but he is still not the most genuine.
“Brendan said he was travelling really well on the helmet of the horse in front of him last time but when that horse pulled out, and he lost the helmet, he gave up a bit.
“It’s going to be tough from out there. He might be able to slide forward - Hayden will just have to assess what they’re doing early - but it’s more likely he’ll go back and take short cuts.
“Either way it’s going to take a great drive and a lot of luck to win.”
More news in Harness
Kevin Kline a real fish called Wanda fresh-up but he’ll learn from the run for Friday night
Charity horse Kevin Kline looks a good actor and Ray’s pretty hopeful for Friday night
What a Dude! The Big Lebowski bowls ‘em and sets aim for Friday’s $200,000 Free-for-all
Smart trial shows why Ray’s surprised by The Big Lebowski’s big odds for Tuesday
Our runners this week: How our trainer rates them
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 9: Kevin Kline
9.55pm
“When Maurice asked him to go at the top of the straight at Cambridge he got lost and didn’t quite know what to do. He wound up well in the end but just left it a little late. He’ll learn from that and should go well again.”
Race 10: Debbie Lincoln
10.22pm
“She has ability but she’s a work in progress. She’s fast but she needs to harness it. She gets a little claustrophobic when they come around her so the mission on Friday will be to get round without her doing anything stupid. She’s a much stronger individual now than when she started off in April.”